MICHAEL Kightly is ready to turn back the clock and burst back onto the Premier League scene.

The 25-year-old played just four games last season – all in April – as a flurry of injuries from previous years took their toll.

He has not played 90 minutes for Wolves since October 2009 but speaking from the Irish training camp, Kightly remains defiant.

“It is a big ambition of mine to play well in the Premier League. But to be honest I just want to be playing football full stop,” he said.

“I love the game and I love this club and I want to be playing as much football as I can.

“I’ve missed too much football in the last two years and anyone who knows me will know I’m so eager to get back to where I was a couple of years ago. Hopefully with a positive off-season and a positive pre-season I can do that and play like I was a couple of years ago.

“We all get programmes to follow during the close season and the goal of mine was to be as fit as I could be when we reported back.

“I worked really hard in the off season which helped and hopefully that will help stand me in good stead during pre-season. If I can get a good pre-season behind me hopefully it will help me get back to the form I showed two years ago.

“Over the last couple of pre-seasons I’ve just been trying to get back fit for the season and I’ve ended up missing it. When you miss a pre-season it’s really crucial – you need that behind you to have that base fitness for the season.

“I’ve worked hard over pre-season and hopefully I can push on and do what I can to try and get in the team. When you’ve been out for the length of time I have it’s key to play games.

“I got back in towards the end of last season but it was difficult to get those games because the team were needing points and we couldn’t really carry anyone.

“I knew that and it wasn’t a problem. We’ve got a lot of games this pre-season and if I can feature in a lot of them it will really help me and from there hopefully I can start the season well.”

Kightly added: “We’ve got some very good competition for places with the wingers which is good.

“If anyone gets stale or rests on their laurels there are four good wingers at the club so we all know we will need to be on top of our games to be playing.”

Kightly says Wolves can be successful this season: “Having spoken to the lads I think we want to improve on what we’ve done over the last two years,” he said.

“We’ve got a good squad here with two years’ experience in the Premier League and with a couple more additions which I’m sure we’ll end up getting we’ll be looking to improve on the last two seasons.’’